The Troop Committee’s Job WHAT THE JOB HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE TROOP COMMITTEE is a group of three or four women who stand ready to help the leader of a troop when called upon. They help with such things as transportation, raising troop money, finding places to meet or carry on an activity (a kitchen, a hiking route, an overnight camping cabin). They function from the side lines, but are none the less important. They sustain the troop leader who is in the front line, and make it possible for her to do her job well. In the case of the lone troop (not under the auspices of a local council) the troop committee has, in addition to those functions mentioned above, an administrative function. Qualifications. The main qualification for membership in a troop committee is willingness to act in an auxiliary capacity. The job calls for someone who has, perhaps, only little time to give, but is willing to help the Girl Scout troop and its leaders in many miscellaneous ways. Since the troop often needs transportation, equipment, and money, the troop committee member should be a person who has a car she will use or a facility to raise small bits of money through bridge parties, etc., or a willingness to lend her kitchen for homemaking activities, etc. Very often, the members of troop committees are the mothers of girls in the troop, but not necessarily so. In the case of a lone troop, a person with administrative abilities is needed. Help on the Job. Troop committee members receive instructions about their jobs before they assume them. When they are on the job they work closely with the leader of the troop. Also, as there is more than one person on the troop committee, the members help each other. Training is available for troop committee members throughout the year, both locally and at regional and national conferences. WHAT MAKES THE JOB MORE IMPORTANT TODAY The defense program is making demands on everyone. Some can serve in the army; some in industry; some as executives and directors of big enterprises; others (the majority of us) in those small tasks that make the big enterprises possible. The troop committee is trained to do the small job, and to do it efficiently and promptly. Persons trained in this manner are invalu- 6 Able in times when the success of the whole depends upon the prompt and effective cooperation of each part. This kind of detailed cooperation and gearing in of all kinds of help, both big and small, is one factor that has helped make the totalitarian machine so devastating. Surely this same kind of devotion to small services can make of our defense machine a constructive force in the world today. NEW OPPORTUNITIES THE JOB OFFERS FOR DEFENSE SERVICE The troop committee has new opportunities for service today. These include: 1. Opportunities to help the Red Cross, the Bundles for Britain, the U.S.O., etc.: a. By transporting girls to places of defense service. b. By delivering (or helping girls to deliver) defense materials to troops upon which they can work. c. By returning (or helping girls to return) finished articles to defense agencies. d. By bringing to the attention of these agencies the types of services the troop can render. e. By offering their own services to these agencies where their type of leadership and committee help is an asset. f. By raising money (or helping girls to raise money) for these agencies. 2. Opportunities to help the industrial and military victory program: a. By collecting (or helping girls to collect) materials and articles needed by industry (paper, tinfoil, cardboard, etc.). b. By releasing space needed for defense activities through opening their homes and barns as Girl Scout meeting places. c. By conserving materials needed for defense through loaning the troop equipment, helping make over uniforms, and finding program materials that are plentiful. d. By raising the morale of newcomers through visiting them and making them feel part of the neighborhood and part of its activities. 3. Opportunities to help the leader and girls of the troop: a. By bringing persons with hobbies and interests of special significance today to the attention of the troop and program committee. b. By taking courses in first aid, nutrition, home safety, etc., so that its members can act as program consultants in these activities. c. By bringing opportunities for defense service to their attention that are appropriate to their ability and age level. THE PART THE COMMUNITY CAN PLAY The troop committee strives to make materials, money, meeting places, and specialists available to the Girl Scout troop. These should come not only from the troop committee members themselves, but form the community. 7